Sketcher Spotlight
Magic with Dirt & Substrate BY JANE WINGFIELD
D
ubbed the “SideShow Picasso” in a 2009 documentary, Marie Roberts of Brooklyn, New York, has been painting the bright and colorful sideshow posters of Coney Island for many years. The moniker is well deserved. She has lived near the permanent carnival most of her life. Her uncle was a carnival barker and her family hosted many of the sideshow performers at times. “My family spoke carney, and I ran away from their sideshow traditions to become a painter.” As a painter, Marie sketches all the time. “Taking a clue from Henri Rousseau who traveled to exotic places within the confines of Paris, I spent a year drawing animals at the Bronx Zoo.” She spent some time drawing at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks on New York City, capturing some of the chaos of the aftermath. Once when she was drawing at the 2011 Occupy Wall Street Protest in the financial district of Manhattan, an urban sketcher saw her and suggested she join the New York City group on one of their outings. She’s been joining regularly ever since. Recently, however, her Instagram account sports a new character. Frances, the cat, exhibits her contortions in Marie’s apartment on a daily basis. She is a real cat. A rescue cat, as a matter of fact. A friend found her in a pile of rubbish when she was all but gone and blinded from wounds. Marie brought her back to life and Frances has repaid Marie with endless inspiration. Recently, Marie has used the cat’s antics to encourage people to enact their civic duty by adding “vote” to her drawings. Animals can be a source of inspiration for urban sketchers in many settings. “I continually visit NYC zoos and the aquarium to draw the creatures. For me, I usually don’t “get” much on the first try, but I return over time to draw and eventually it all begins to make visual sense.” Marie loves to draw animals in their habitats, whether it’s the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, a riding stable, a farm in southern Scotland, or her own home.
44 DRAWING ATTENTION